Won't you come back?
by Musician74
Summary: Yui's world came tumbling down the day she heard Azusa was no longer there. Now she feels it's her duty to find her and bring her back, but how does she intend to do that? More over, how will Ui cope with all of this?  YuiAzu & Ui
1. Chapter 1

Hey peeps, Arrin here…

Yes, these here little fiction. Well it came to mind when I was reading Tastychainsaws' fiction 'Feeding a Dream'. Actually it came to mind... 4 months after I read it... Nonetheless, this here is inspired by it. Anyway, it's nothing like his of course... since this includes Ui, Jun and bits of Mugi, Ritsu and Mio and Nodoka as well.  
>I hope you like it... Don't hesitate to tell me if I have made any mistakes or if it isn't angsty enough, since that is my main goal...<p>

**Full summary (More like better summary):  
><strong>Yui's world came tumbling down the day she heard Azusa was no longer. Now she feels that for some reason it's her duty to find her and bring her back, but how does she intend to do that? More over, how will Ui cope with all of this? Is there more behind Azusa's death than one would like to believe?

**Disclaimer**: Placed on my profile. Need proof? Go to my profile.

**Chapter 1 The last to hear**

_White. Everything was white. In fact so white she couldn't even see where a wall began or where it ended… not to mention the ceiling or floor.  
>She turned left of her to see a spec of black slowly growing bigger. When she focused on it, she saw it was in fact someone… Someone was walking towards her.<em>

_Suddenly an unbearably piercing screech made it harder and harder for her to focus on it and while she tried to cover her ears to soften the pain the screech was inflicting in her ears, it seemed the sound grew louder and sharper until she felt like her head was going to explode. She closed her eyes and tried to block out everything._

_Then it stopped._

_She slowly removed her hands from her ears, but didn't have the guts to open her eyes. When she thought she was ready, she opened them and saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. The world around her was now black. As black as her hair.  
>She was scared, yes. But somehow she knew someone would come to rescue her. Just when she had sparked a little bit of hope, she felt like she was falling! Deeper and deeper into nothingness, she fell, with nothing to hold on to, with no one to be afraid with.<em>

_"You don't deserve it…" A husky, crackly old voice whispered to her. The source, unknown._

_[["L-l-… Please, l-let me go!"]] The more confidence she lost, the harder she felt she was falling. Confidence quickly left her small fragile body and fear crept in._

_"You don't deserve to be there…"_

Someone… Someone save me…_ was the only thought she had as she fell deeper into the darkness._

_H-help me… "YUI-SENPAI, HELP ME!"_

**[BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP]**

The sound of her alarm clock startled her and she almost fell out of bed.

_Was it all a dream?_

She stood up to go to the bathroom and turned off her alarm clock off in the process. She groggily picked a tube of toothpaste and as soon as she smeared a little on her toothbrush she began to brush her teeth… almost falling asleep again…

She got dressed afterwards and happily walked to school. Strange though… She hadn't seen any of her friends on her way to school… Now that she even thought about it, her morning seemed a little out of balance. Did she miss something perhaps? Or did she forget something?

_Uh-oh… I forgot my phone at home… Ooh, well… I'll surely see them when I get to class…_

She quickened her pace so she wouldn't worry her friends for being such a klutz. As she ran past the door, put on her indoor slippers and sprinted to her classroom, she couldn't help but feel… uneasy. On her way to her home room she met Himeko.

"Err… W-what are doing here-"

"I have school, silly Hime-chan!" She couldn't place it, but it seemed Himeko looked a little tense and terrified, which was very different from her usually laidback attitude and smiley face.

She stormed into the class room and once she did, everyone stared at her. The sudden silence was in a way deafening to her ears as she slowly walked to her desk all the way in the back, right behind her childhood friend. As she placed her bag onto the bag holder of her desk she felt everyone's eyes on her, watching her every move. It was quite disturbing and she couldn't help but feel something was wrong. She tried to push the thought of something bad happening to someone out of her mind. She wouldn't want to imagine such horrible things… even more so she **couldn't** imagine horrible things ever happening to, what was for her the best life ever.

"Hey, Kyoko-chan, where's Nodoka-chan? And Mio-chan and Ricchan and Mugi-chan?"

Said girl just stared at her, disbelief staining her otherwise happy face. "Y-Yui-chan… Cc-could you uhm… go to S-S-S-SSawako-sensei… Sh-She's expecting you…"

"Ooh, all right. Thanks, Kyoko-chan!" And she sprinted off to the teacher's lounge. Once there she knocked and opened the door to see Mugi totally out of it while Ritsu was trying to wake up Mio. Fear finally crept back into her mind as she slowly walked towards the grim faced sensei.

"Sawa-chan sensei, what's wrong?" She asked when she saw her friends in the state they were in. Yui feared for the worst when her sensei refused to speak.

"I-is it Ui? Is Ui okay? I-I haven't seen her t-this morning a-and… and my phone is at home so…"

She stopped talking when Sawako slowly shook her head, signaling her sister was fine.

"Then what? Sawa-chan sensei, you're scaring me… tell me…" Yui's voice trembled and she felt her body shaking as well.

"[Sigh]… I'm sorry, Yui-chan… Azusa…"

At the mention of her dear kohai Yui realized she hadn't seen Azusa this morning as well. "Yeah, where is Azunyan? I haven't seen her since this morning and…" Yui's voice trailed off when she saw the tears forming in the corners Sawako's eyes.

"She…"

Yui's heart skipped a beat… maybe several more… when she heard the devastating sentence that would be etched into her mind, heart and head forever.

"… died yesterday"

At that moment, the beautiful bubble Yui was living in all her life popped and with that all the color faded to black and white right in front of her eyes. She slumped down, not even having enough energy to cry and just stared into nothing. Her eyes… as empty as the darkness could allow…

* * *

><p>Anyway so this was the first chapter. I've decided to continue it since my mood is right for it. I hope you like it. Review if you want... Tell me if I'm missing anything, or if didn't see something I should have (Like some awesome thing that should have been awesomer if I'd have seen it with my own eyes).. And see you in the next chapter.<p>

Also, special thanks to **Ninokid49** for pointing out the missing factors in this fic


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2 The only one_**

_Cold. It was all she could think about right now. _

_Why am I here?_

"_You deserve to be here…" The low husky voice ringed in her ears like two cymbals clashing together. Painful and deafening._

_She didn't want to open her eyes, fearing what she might see… or was it what she might not see? The feeling of falling had stopped and now it seemed like she was just lying in a fetal position on the ground. "Yui-senpai… Please… If you can…" She felt tears stain her porcelain cheeks and she could barely speak. The coldness was in a way too scary for even her to handle._

"_No one will come to save you, you little…"_

_NO! She didn't want to hear that voice! That filthy, god awful voice. It's lying. No one deserves to be here!_

"_Hurry, Yui-senpai! HURRY…!"_

**["-up. Come on, wake up…"]**

She heard a sad sigh. Of course she's awake. She hasn't been sleeping for… who knows how long…

"[Sigh] Onee-chan, please… Today is the day. You promised you would go, didn't you?"

Yui was lying on her side, her back turned to her sister, lying down in a fetal position, her hair a mess, her eyes red from crying and lack of sleep. She hasn't spoken to any of the HTT members for the past week.  
>No… talking to them would be too painful. It would… it would… bring back memories. The same memories she didn't want to relive again. As if on autopilot, Yui slowly sat up, her eyes dull and staring at nothing in particular.<p>

"Come on, Onee-chan. I'll help you get ready." Ui smiled sympathetically at her sister.

"No."

"Sorry?" Ui was shocked to hear the first word her sister had spoken out in what seemed like decades, was a negative one.

"I'll get ready myself, Ui. F-for… Azunyan…." Yui gave a blank smile and slowly made her way to the bathroom.  
>She stared into the mirror, yet she couldn't see herself. Instead she saw a girl with dull brown hair, it seemed like she hadn't brushed it for a couple of days now. Her eyes were round and red and it seemed like all the fun and love had been sucked out of them. The trademark sparkle was gone. The girl's skin. Pale. Unusually pale. Like she was some sort of corpse.<p>

Heh… a corpse… Funny…Isn't she going to see one later today? Yui felt tears streaming her face again. Tears she didn't know she had left. Sighing softly, she turned on the faucet and washed her hands and face. She looked back into the mirror.

She saw Azusa's screaming face, her right hand reached out to Yui in a desperate attempt to make Yui hold onto it.

_["YUI-SENPAI, SAVE ME!"]_ Azusa's desperate and scared voice made Yui cringe. However the voice was so similar to… so familiar to… Yui's eyes began to glimmer with a sparkle of hope.

"AZUNYAN!" Yui quickly stuck out her hand to reach for her beloved kohai that seemed to be stuck in the mirror. Acting too quickly, she didn't calculate the distance and when her hand reached the mirror, she smashed into it, cutting her hand, ruining the mirror.

"Azunyan…" The glimmer of hope disappeared and Yui's eyes were dull once again. Her mind turned comatose and her body went back on autopilot. She didn't hear the footsteps running up the stairs, or the stressed voice screaming and asking if she was alright. She just nodded silently.

After a long morning of Ui helping Yui change and practically forcing her to eat at least one piece of toast, they were on their way. The walk was silent, the silence was deafening. Ui felt a little scared and with every step they made, she felt more and more uneasy. Yui on the other hand was thinking about… nothing. Her mind was blank. Dark. She felt Ui holding her hand to guide the way, so she concentrated on that darkness. Somehow… this same darkness reminded her of a dream. This… strange dream she had. The dream she had right before…

"Onee-chan, we're here."

Snapping out of her train of thoughts, Yui looked up to see where they were. Right in front of her was a familiar house. The door was open and it seemed… people were going in and out. Right in front of the door was a group of people she instantly recognized. The same people she tried to avoid this past week.  
>But really now, who was she kidding. These people…. are her friends. Of course she couldn't successfully dodge them.<br>All of them seemed to notice her and her sister standing by the driveway. One by one they came over until she was crowded with sad smiles and red eyes.  
>Mugi-chan… Mio-chan… Ricchan…. Nodoka-chan… Jun-chan… They were all there. Suddenly Yui felt guilty. Who was she to act the way she did, when the people in front of her, her friends, also felt the same way. She had no right… She didn't… right?<p>

"Guys…" They all smiled when they finally heard her voice. "Let's just be here for Azunyan, okay…" Giving each other knowing smiles, they walked into the house just in time for the wake to start.

After the wake, they were chatting with Mrs. Nakano. Mr. Nakano was no where to be found.

"How are you holding up, Mrs. Nakano?" Ui looked at her best friend's mother. Her eyes were swollen and it seemed like she had dark circles around her eyes. She had a tired expression etched on her face. But of course… wouldn't you be like this if you lost your only daughter?

"I'm trying, Ui-chan… I'm trying…" She gave a wary smile. "Please help yourself to some tea while I go look for Azusa's…" at the mention of her daughter's name she stopped and swallowed the tears that were trying to make their way out of her eyes. "… my husband."

The group watched as she struggled to get to… wherever she was planning on going. Sighing, everyone thought it best to leave early. At the end of the street, the group split up with Mugi, Mio and Ritsu going in one direction, Yui, Ui and Nodoka going in another and Jun also in another direction.

"Ui, I'll be over tomorrow morning, okay? Take care Yui-senpai…"

"Don't…"

"Sorry?"

"Don't… call me… senpai… Only Azunyan may call me that… Only… Azunyan…" Ui looked at her sister. She was so brave when she was at the Nakano residence. Now she was back to her comatose state, staring at nothing in particular while talking to Jun.

"S-sorry… Yui… erm –chan. I-I'll see you later then…" Flustered, Jun hastily made her way home.

"Yui, calm down. A kohai is supposed to call you 'senpai'. Jun is your kohai, too, you know." Ritsu put her arm around Yui's neck, pulling her close.

"Azunyan is my kohai… not… not…" Yui sounded like a broken record. An idle, broken record.

"I'm sorry everyone, but I'm gonna take her home. I think she just needs to rest." Ui told the others.

"Okay, Ui-chan. We'll stop by tomorrow as well." Mugi said. Ritsu, Mio and Nodoka nodded in unison.

Mio squatted so her eyes could meet Yui's dull ones. "Yui, we're here for you if you need us, okay? Don't forget…"

"Azunyan is all… I… need…" a single tear fell out her eyes and her brows quickly covered her face. "Thank you all… Let's go Ui…"

Everyone was shocked by the coldness in her voice. They tried to shrug it off, but… really now, a cold Yui was one sight they never imagined they would witness. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Once Yui and Ui were home, Yui slowly walked up to her room. She heard her sister telling her to remove her clothes and once she did, she slowly walked to her bed and curled up in it. She drifted off into a heavy slumber while thinking.

**[Yui's point of view]**

Even if those dreams are scary, I don't care… If it means I get to see your face again, Azunyan, then so be it. I'll sleep all day and dream of you… The others don't know what they're saying… You… you're my only kohai… You're the only one allowed to call me senpai. Because… because…

_So where am I? Ooh… I'm in that strange dark place again. Will I see Azunyan then? This time I'll try and make her notice me-_

"_AZUNYAN!"_

_I call out to her, but she doesn't notice, does she? I could try calling again, but… Wait, why is she screaming? Azunyan? Don't! No, I'm right here!_

"_YUI-SENPAI, HELP ME!"_

_I'm right here Azunyan! Azunyan! … AZUSA!_

**[3****rd**** person POV]**

_Yui was surrounded by white. Everywhere. She couldn't see any walls or floors. Not to mention the ceiling. Where was the ceiling?_

_["Won't you save me, Yui-senpai?"]_

_A familiar voice penetrated her ears. The voice, calm and sincere, she'd been longing to hear was echoing out of nowhere, the volume just barely above a whisper._

_["Or would you rather be with me?"]_

_Yui searched for its source. Where did it come from? Where is she?_

_["I'm so alone, Yui-senpai."]_

_Yui felt tears in the corners of her eyes. Why couldn't she see her? WHY ISN'T SHE SHOWING HERSELF?_

_["Come save me, senpai…"]_

"I will, Azusa…. I will."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<br>**So what did you guys think? Normally I'd say review if you like, but this time I'm saying… Onegaii! Please review! I need to know… How is my writing style? Can I portray the emotion right? Can I portray it good enough? Please, tell me what you think…  
>And also… if this chapter confused you… then good. I was meant to confuse. If not… Well then you get a cookie! See you in the next chapter!<p>

**Extra note:  
><strong>If there are any fans of _"It can't get any worse, can it?" _reading this, I gotta say… I'm putting that story on hiatus, because of some … err, writer issues…. And I'm carrying on with this one.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3 Personal denial**_

"… _Deserve to be here…"_

_It keeps saying that, but why? What have I done to be here? _

_She felt her body getting weaker and weaker with every minute… every second… she stayed there. The cold and lonely darkness was nothing comforting for her. Why would ANYONE deserve this? How could anyone be sent here?  
><em>_Somehow she could feel the temperature dropping. The coldness was unbearable and she felt like she was naked. Wrapping her arms around her torso she mentally began to chant._

_This is all just a dream…_

"_This is not a dream…" The low husky voice was once again back to taunt her._

_This is all just a dream…_

"_Denial is but a trivial matter, young one…"_

_This all just a dream…_

"_This is reality…"_

_This is all just a…_

"_A reality you deserve to be in…"_

_This so called reality was slowly consuming her inside and out.  
>The low and husky voice continues to taunt her, continues to break her.<em>

"_No one wants to save you…"_

_That's not true…_

"_You're all alone…"_

_She felt cold tears rolling down her cheeks. "Yui-senpai… Please..."_

**[DING DONG]**

The sound of the door bell brought her back. It's been two days now since she's last seen her friends.

["Sorry for intruding…"]

Yes, that's them. They came to cheer her up. Or at least they wanted to try and cheer her up. She heard their footsteps shuffling up the stairs, followed by a short knock on her door.

"Onee-chan, your friends are here to see you."

One by one, they came in. Yui had her back turned to them.  
>She couldn't see their expressions, but she was sure it wasn't the normal expressions she knew.<p>

"Yui-chan…" _Mugi-chan_

"Oi, Yui… Snap out of it, your sister's worried sick about you…" _Ricchan_

"Y-Yui…" _Mio-chan_

Yui heard soft, sad sighs and finally turned around. "Hey everyone… Thank you for coming..." Her voice was as lifeless as her eyes. She slowly sat up and gave a weak and fake smile; it was rude to lie down if you have guests, right?

"How are you doing, Yui?" Nodoka asked just as she came in. She had a worried smile etched on her face.

Yui silently nodded while staring at her feet. There was an uncomfortable silence afterwards. Neither the talkative Ritsu nor the concerned Nodoka could say anything. It hurt them all to see a friend like this.

"Yui-chan, I brought some cake for you… You love this cake right? It's your favorite. Mont Blanc." Mugi tried to lighten the mood, and make her friend a little happy.

"Mont Blanc… Azunyan loves Mont Blanc… Did you bring one for her, too?" Yui's monotone voice was in a way deafening to their ears.

Mugi didn't know what to say so she began to stutter.

"I uh… Uhm, I…it's… and that tea you love so much…"

"You mean the tea Azunyan loves as well?"

Nodoka couldn't stand it anymore. Seeing her childhood friend like that mentally hurt her. She ran out into the hallway. Ritsu's face went red, but didn't utter a word. Mio's eyes were brimming with tears, but she decided to try, too.

"C-come on, Y-Yui… Get up. Y-You have to practice g-guitar, remember? Or else we won't get to go to B-Budokan…"

"Will Azunyan be there? Is Azunyan coming, too?"

Mio couldn't hold back the tears when she saw the glint of hope in Yui's eyes instantly fade away when she remained silent at the question she had asked.

Finally Ritsu snapped. "Damn it, Yui, get a grip. You know Azusa isn't coming back. Stop acting like she will."

Yui's face was now stone cold and turned into one of menacing rage when she heard what Ritsu had to say next.

"Grow up, Yui. Azusa's _**DEAD**_ and you know it. You saw her body _that_ day, too."

An angry Yui was another mental image none of the HTT members ever wanted to see and yet with the death of their beloved underclassman they did.  
>Yui was angry. Her eyes were wide and angry, her face red, her hands formed fists, squeezing them until her knuckles turned white.<p>

And then it disappeared. Her hands unclenched and she hid her eyes behind her bangs.

"Get out…"

"Look Yui, I'm-"

"GET OUT, RICCHAN! And don't ever say that about Azunyan! Don't ever talk about her like that AGAIN." Yui was panting loudly.

An angry Yui caused by an angry Ritsu escaladed. Ritsu stomped out the door, dragging a crying Mio with her. Mugi just stared at Yui, not knowing what to do.

"Y-Yui-chan, I…"

"Mugi-chan… Can you please leave me alone right now…"

Yui turned around and lied back down on her bed, her back facing Mugi once more. She heard Mugi mumble something and faint footsteps walking towards her. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, a choked sob and some more mumbling of words. It wasn't exactly mumbling; Yui heard her, she just didn't want to listen.

"Get well soon, Yui-chan… I miss you… _We_ miss you… the old you…"

"Mugi-chan, please…"

Yui's hurt tone was enough for Mugi to break out in tears. She slowly backed away and walked out the door.

Silence filled her room again. Never had she missed something like silence, but then again, she never had gotten angry before. Once again, Yui escaped reality and went into the world of dreams where everything was scary, but where Azusa was… her Azunyan.

**[Yui's Point of View]**

They don't know what their saying, Azunyan… I'll find you… and I'll bring you back... to show them. I know you're still alive somewhere and I will find you… I never break a promise… especially a promise made with you…

"_You're all alone…" huh? Who's that talking?_

_["Yui-senpai…"] Azunyan? ["Please…"]_

_What's wrong Azunyan? I'm right here! Where are you? I want to see you, I NEED to see you! Azunyan!_

"_She can't hear you…"_

**[3****rd**** person point of view]**

_Yui looked all around her. Suddenly the voice was talking to her. She frantically searched for the source, but to no avail._

_Who are you? Where's Azusa?_

"_Leave! You insolent child!" The voice grew louder and sounded enraged._

_WHERE'S AZUSA! I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HER!_

"_She's is no longer from your world, little girl…"_

_Yui didn't know what to do. She couldn't leave Azusa here…. She couldn't leave anyone here!_

"_Leave before you make matters worse…"_

_**I will come back… Hold on, Azunyan...**_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

Okay, so here is where the short chapters end. After this, the chapters will increase in size. I will however not write anything that is beyond 10.000 + words… That would be too much to handle for me (and it would bore readers as well)… Thank you all for reviewing, I humbly appreciate it, I really do!

Again, Read… review... make me happy… (or don't… whatever…)


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 Our Journey Begins**

_Standing on a small hill, surrounded by clear green grass below a beautiful clear blue sky, she looked around and saw her, dressed in a white sun dress. She was happy and so was the girl in the sun dress._

_["Yui-senpai, you came."]_

_Of course… I'd never leave you._

_["Yui-senpai?"]_

_Yes, Azunyan?_

_["Why won't you speak to me? Yui-senpai?"]_

_But, Azunyan, I am! Why won't you hear me!_

_The scenery changed. She was now standing. Just standing. There was no grass, there was no sky. She recognized it as the same darkness she had been dreaming about for the past weeks. Suddenly she appeared before her. A naked, small and frail Azusa._

_["Yui-senpai… I'm so alone…"]_

"_Azunyan…" she extended her hand "… then come with me…"_

_["I can't"]_

"_Then… I'll go with you…"_

_As fast as she came, just as fast was she gone. She couldn't handle the quick scenery, the quick change._

"_AZUNYAN!"_

_["Come get me, Yui-senpai… Please…"]_

"_I will. Even if it takes me forever. I will… Azusa"_

She heard a light stomping coming from up stairs. _Could it be?_  
>After a few minutes, she heard someone descend the stairs. "Onee-chan…"<p>

Ui was surprised to see her sister up, but was glad nonetheless.

"Ui…" Yui still looked like a wreck, her hair still sticking out in some places and her uniform a little crumpled. But nothing compared to her lifeless eyes. Yui faked a smile. It hurt Ui to see her sister like this, but at least she tried.

"Onee-chan, do you want some breakfast?"

For Ui it began to seem like her old routine came back in place. Waking up, fixing breakfast and then waking Yui up to eat before going to school. But unlike the normal, hearty breakfast she used to have, Yui just had a small piece of toast. Hey, gotta at least eat something, right?

After almost five weeks of absence… Almost five weeks after it happened, Yui finally went back to school. Ui was glad she could walk with someone to school again. It used to be her, her sister and…  
>But ever since it happened, Yui went into a state of shock, followed by denial. It was expected. Yui was the closest to her.<br>Holding her hand tightly, Ui guided Yui to school. Once there, she helped Yui find her shoe locker and brought her to her classroom and placed her under Nodoka's care.

"Yui… How are you?" Nodoka was extra careful with her words.

"I'm… doing okay… Nodoka-chan…" Yui gave her a foggy, distant smile.

"I'll leave her in your care, okay Nodoka-san?"

"Don't worry, Ui. She'll be all right."

Nodoka took Yui's hand and effortlessly guided her to her seat. Yui sat down on the tip of her chair, and it seemed she was trying to make herself small, like she didn't want to be noticed.  
>Nodoka was about to say something when a loud voice coming from the hall caught her attention. It was Ritsu.<p>

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, the guy was ogling you, Mio! I couldn't let him get away with that!"<p>

"Well, thank you… I think…"

Glad her best friend finally understood why she punched a random guy on the street for, as she stated, 'ogling' her, Ritsu walked into the class room. Once inside, she immediately looked over to Yui's seat. She'd been doing that ever since their fight. Exhaling a breath she'd been holding in, in expectance of Yui being there, she gave a small smile and walked over to Yui's desk, signaling Mio on her way. Said girl walked right behind her.

"Hey Nodoka… Hey Yui…" Ritsu smiled sincere. It was so heartbreaking to see her cadet in such a devastating state.

"Ahh, Mio-chan… Ricchan…" Yui gave them the same foggy, distant smile she gave Nodoka.

Ritsu couldn't take it any longer. She was never one to apologize, but she did realize she was the one at fault. Nonetheless, Yui was her friend. So she would apologize. "Yui… about what I said the other day…'

"Ehh? What did you say, Ricchan?" Yui's curious face displayed. Of course, minus the innocent, curious, twinkling eyes.

"You know… about…" Ritsu gulped. She wasn't an idiot. One wrong word and who knows if Yui might throw a fit. "Anyway, I wanna say I'm sorry… Sorry for being so mean to you."

"That's okay, Ricchan…" she gave a small smile.

Just then, a red faced Mugi came into the class room, obviously out of breath. Once inside, she saw Yui and started walking over, but then the bell sounded for the beginning of their first period. Home room.  
>After a good twenty seconds a composed young teacher came in. One Sawako Yamanaka. She quickly took attendance and when she noticed everyone, including Yui, was present, she began her morning announcements, looking at Yui every once in a while. Wrapping it up quickly, she decided to talk to Yui to see how things were.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hirasawa-san?"<p>

"Yes?"

"I saw Hirasawa-senpai this morning. How is she?"

"Ooh, she's fine, thank you for asking, Takahashi-san."

Ui was a little shocked to learn just how much people knew her sister. But then again, Yui was part of a famous club around the school's campus, so…

_Strange…Where's Jun?_

Jun Suzuki had been missing ever since home room ended. Ui decided to take a little walk and see how her sister was doing when she realized she hadn't seen her friend since then. On her way to her sister's classroom was the principle's office. And that's where she saw Jun… with a bloody nose.

"Jun-chan! What happened?"

"Oei… I gwot intwo a fheight. De bits bushtet up mai knoose…"

"Uhm…" Okay, Ui had no idea what Jun just said.

Jun sighed and carefully removed her hand from the bridge of her nose. Luckily, it had stopped bleeding. "I said, I got into a fight. That bitch busted up my nose… really good, too."

"Jun-chan, language! And why were you fighting anyways?'

"Why wouldn't I, Ui? She… she…" Jun looked down "… said a lot of lies… about Azusa…" Jun started to fidget lightly.

Yes. Lies. Ever since it happened, there have been numerous rumors circling the school as to how Azusa died. So far, the ones Ui knew were "her boyfriend cheated on her and then she killed herself", "Azusa was a depressed child and wanted to end her life" and the ever popular yet stupid "she was possessed by a demon". Man, people knew how to make up lies. Idiotic lies.

"What's the rumor about this time, Jun-chan?" Ui had a serious scowl on her face.

"[sigh] She was raped and then she didn't see the point in living anymore." Jun said with a straight face, though not looking at Ui.

"[Sigh]… I'm gonna go look for my sister, okay…"

"Ui, wait."

* * *

><p>"What's wrong?"<p>

They were all seated around the club room table, Ton-chan swimming carefree in her tank. Nodoka decided to join them, so she could look after Yui for a while. Yui hadn't said a word after lunch break was over and it quite frankly made everyone uneasy.

"I was late this morning so I forgot to bring those Belgian chocolates I promised. I'm sorry…" The keyboardist was sad for letting her friends down.

"No, it's not that, Mugi!" Ritsu quickly said. "It's just that…" Ritsu looked at Yui who seemed to be in her own little world again.  
>Suddenly Yui looked up though not looking at anyone in particular.<p>

"Everyone…" They were all silent. Yui's monotone voice kept ringing in their ear like a deadly sound just waiting to explode. "Thank you. For being here for me. I'm so glad… to have friends like you all." Yui smiled. It wasn't the foggy smile she gave them this morning. They could see a glimpse of their old Yui-chan again. For a quick second they were foolish enough to think Yui began to recover.

* * *

><p>"What time should we go then, Jun-chan? I suppose I could leave Onee-chan with Nodoka-san, but I can't stay very long, okay?"<p>

"Let's go right now. I saw Nodoka-senpai going to the music room earlier, so it'll be okay if you leave Yui-senpai in her care for a little while longer, right?"

"I suppose… I'll ask her if she can take her home after club activities are over then."

After Ui got a reply from Nodoka saying she would be able to look after Yui, she and Jun were off.

"What do you suppose Mrs. Nakano wants, Jun-chan?"

"hmm… Who knows, Ui. Maybe she'd want to give us something?"

That sounded reasonable. Aside from Houkago Tea Time, Ui and Jun were Azusa's only true friends.  
>Ui couldn't help but think about her sister. Yui was the one who loved Azusa the most and of course, Yui was also the one who took the blow the hardest. Ui felt helpless seeing her sister like that.<br>Suddenly she got the desire to help her sister in any way possible. But how? Trying to help someone get over the death of a loved one isn't exactly an easy task, nor did she properly know how to.

"What are you thinking about, Ui?"

Ui looked over at Jun. The pig tailed girl seemed stressed out about something.

"Jun-chan… What's wrong?"

"It's those lies, Ui… I… I can't stand 'em! They shouldn't say anything if they don't know anything!" Jun was furious. How dare they say such things about her friend… How dare they even speak of her.

"Don't worry, Jun-chan. They'll…"

"They'll what, Ui? They'll stop eventually? ! They should stop RIGHT NOW!"

"… Hey… Jun-chan… So, what _is_ the actual cause of death of Azusa-chan? Did Mrs. Nakano tell you?"

"I wouldn't know, Ui… I wouldn't know." Jun calmed down instantly.

This is it. Ui thought that if she knew Azusa's cause of death, then maybe she could help Yui get over it a little quicker. She knew the rest of HTT knew, as well as her sister, but she also knew she wouldn't be able to ask them as they loved the sweet kohai just as much as she and Jun. Maybe even more.

"Ui. We're here."

They walked up to the front door to be greeted by Mr. Nakano who was just about to go to the store to get some groceries. Ui looked at her friend's father. He wasn't a tall man, but he was still a good couple of centimeters taller than Mio. He looked like a train wreck. His eyes were swollen and red and his smile was crooked. It seems he hadn't shaved for a few days… make that weeks.

"Ui-chan, Jun-chan. How nice of you to… come by…" the man said sad. "Go on in, Azusa's…" No. He did again. Once again he reminded himself that his one and only daughter was no more. "My… wife… is in the kitchen. Go on ahead." And he quickly stepped into his car and drove off.

"Sorry for intruding!" Jun and Ui took off their shoes.

"Come on in, girls! I'm in the kitchen!"

After Mrs. Nakano finished up in the kitchen, she sat with the girls in the living room.

"Ui-chan, Jun-chan. I don't suppose you know why I called you here?' they both shook their heads.

"It's… about Azusa's death." Mrs. Nakano sighed and rubbed her hands together. She felt really uncomfortable.

"Uhm, w-what about it?" Ui carefully began.

"You see Ui-chan, right before her death she told me something. I wasn't sure what to think about it, so I decided to call you girls hoping you could maybe help decipher it…"

"Uhm, okay… We-we'll try our best to help out in any way… So... What was it?"

* * *

><p>"The drummer knows how to head bang."<p>

"What?"

"Yes."

"I don't get it."

"Neither do I, Ricchan."

"Idiot."

This was Ritsu's thirteenth attempt to make Yui laugh, smile, giggle, anything. Of course, you didn't have to be a genius to figure out it didn't work. The brunette just sat in her seat and stared at her untouched cup of tea; her face was without a doubt unreadable. Suddenly, she looked at Nodoka, or at least she looked in the direction Nodoka was sitting.

"Nodoka-chan, I want to go home." She said flatly.

"Ehh? Y-yeah, of course. I hope you guys don't mind?"

"Sorry, everyone, but I'm not feeling very well. It was good to see you all again today, though."

One by one, Yui hugged her friends.

"Thank you for the tea, Mugi-chan."_ I'll never forget you, Mugi-chan._

"Don't worry about Ricchan, Mio-chan. She's just trying to cheer me up." _I'll miss you, Mio-chan_.

"Captain, this cadet feels a little better after seeing her captain." _Thank you, Ricchan, for everything. I'll miss you as well._

After she hugged all the members of HTT, she said goodbye and walked out the door.

"Goodbye, everyone…"

* * *

><p>"See you later, Ui. I'll call you tonight after dinner so we can discuss that thing Mrs. Nakano said."<p>

Ui walked toward her house while thinking about the information she just received.

_How can that be? It's like Azusa-chan knew she was gonna… So then why didn't she tell anyone? Why didn't she tell one of us?_

Somehow Ui wanted to find out more about Azusa's death. It certainly didn't seem like some accident or self inflicted harm. After battling with herself, she decided she would help solve this little mystery. With the information Mrs. Nakano gave her just now and hopefully with the help of Jun, she could find out. And she would.  
>When she got inside the house, it was eerily quiet. The lights were out and somehow the house felt foreign and haunted. She went to switch on the lights only to find out that the electricity fell out. Probably a jumped circuit.<p>

"Onee-chan, are you home?" she walked over to the telephone table where she remembered seeing one of her Dad's flashlights. She rummaged through one of the drawers and found what she was looking for. She switched it on and tapped it to get it working fully and shone the light towards the stairs. Unexpectedly she saw the gloomy face of her sister standing at least 50 centimeters to her right. She looked like a zombie.

"Onee-chan! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, Ui… I wanted to get a drink, but then the power went out."

"So you stayed in the dark?"

Yui shrugged.

"Well, come on. I'll call an electrician and he'll come and fix it."

"Ui…"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, Ui… I couldn't have asked for a better sister." Yui smiled.

Slightly blushing, Ui giggled. "Mou, Onee-chan, sit down on the couch and wait there while I go call up the electrician, okay?"

Call it a sister's intuition if you will, but Ui sensed there was something strangely wrong with Yui and the power outage. Her father just checked the power unit last month and replaced everything that needed to be replaced, so why would there be something wrong with it? She decided to check it out for herself.

"Onee-chan, I'm gonna check out the power unit, okay? Wait here…"

Without waiting for an answer Ui went outside to see if it was a problem she could fix. She walked over to the power unit and instantly saw the big red switch flipped to the '_off_' sign.

_That's strange… Who would…_

After switching it into its right position, all the lights went back on. Sighing out of relief, Ui walked back to the living room.

"Sorry, Onee-chan, someone had switched the central switch off so we-… Onee-chan?"

Yui was gone.

"Onee-chan where are you?" Ui looked in the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room. Yui wasn't downstairs.

"Come on, Onee-chan, this isn't funny. Where are you?" Ui went upstairs to check out the other living room and Yui's room. No sign of Yui.

"Onee-chan, I don't like this game. Can you please stop?" Ui's voice was shaky and she herself was on the edge of crying. She hurriedly went into her own room with the hope of finding her there… empty.

_No…_

Ui felt tears brimming her eyes and then softly rolling down her cheeks. How could she have been so inattentive…  
>Ui silently blamed herself as she stood up to walk to the phone. Her feet felt heavy and her heart seemed to want to jump out of her ribcage.<br>Slowly getting closer to the phone table, she noticed a sheet of paper with a familiar handwriting.

_[Sorry Ui…_

_,Yui.]_

Yui had left her a note. Feeling a boiling rage in the pit of her stomach, Ui crumpled the piece of paper in her hand. More and more tears made their way out of her eyes as a substitute for the words that couldn't and wouldn't come out of her mouth.

_How could you leave me, Onee-chan…_

Ui tried to recompose herself and after a few minutes, she dialed a number.

"…Jun-chan." Ui's voice was strangely calm. "Onee-chan ran away."

* * *

><p>"WHAT? Why didn't you tell us sooner, Ui?"<p>

The sandy haired drummer let out a sigh of frustration. She, Mio, Mugi and Nodoka decided to visit Yui after dinner in an attempt to cheer her up a little, but when they arrived, they saw two police cars outside the Hirasawa household, three policemen circling the house while Ui was standing with someone, who turned out to be Jun, talking to another policeman.  
>They were all seated in the living room while Mugi went to make some tea for them all.<p>

"I'm very sorry… I-I-I didn't know what to do so I called Jun-chan and… and…"

"And I took her to the police station." Jun finished Ui's sentence. Jun loves her senpais, especially the ones from Houkago Tea Time, but today she was beginning to feel a little pissed towards Ritsu and her attitude towards Ui.

"Cut her some slack, senpai, she's had a rough day and on top of that her sister's-"

"Well, Yui's my friend, Jun! How do you think I feel?"

"Yeah, well Ui is _MY_ friend! How do _you_ think _I_ feel? !"

"Calm down both of you!" Mio's face was red with anger. "You," pointing to Ritsu "sit down,** NOW**."

Ritsu complied and Jun calmed down slightly, sighing as her favorite upperclassman took grasp of the situation.

"Jun, I know you're worried, we all are. But both of you should realize there's not much we can do right now. We just have to wait for the police-"

"Yeah, well fuck that. I'm going to search for Yui, Mio. And I don't care what you think about it. Any of you with me?"

They all stared at Ritsu, who had a determined look. Mio sighed.

"Look, Ritsu-"

"I'm with you, Ritsu-san."

They all stopped to look at Ui who suddenly had a look of determination on her face.

"I can't just sit here helplessly while knowing Onee-chan is out there somewhere. Who knows, maybe we'll find her faster than the police."

"Yeah, that's the spirit, Ui!"

"Ui, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I'm positive! Will you help me, Jun? Will you all help me find Onee-chan?"

It only took a couple of seconds and a few sympathetic and determined glances for the others to agree and help search for Yui.

**The search**

Splitting up in two groups, Nodoka, Jun and Ui went to search the forest near the Hirasawa household where they used to play when they were little until they reached the border to another town, while Ritsu, Mio and Mugi searched the shopping district down town.

"Onee-chan!" Ui's voice sounded hoarse, despite it being so cute and soft. She had been calling out to her sister for the past hour.

"YUI-CHAN!" Jun, following the advice from Ui not to call her 'senpai', called out to the older girl, careful not to step on anything that could be marked harmful in any way.

"YUI!" Nodoka's voice began to falter as well, her cheeks slightly red as she had been silently crying over her friend for the past half hour.

"Hey, Ui… I was thinking… Maybe we shouldn't call out to Yui-se-err, I mean Yui-chan. I mean, she ran away, right? So she might not want to be found."

Agreeing with Jun, Ui and Nodoka silently searched the woods, both of them lost in their own train of thoughts while searching for the carefree girl they loved so much.

* * *

><p>"Find anything?"<p>

Mio shook her head while wildly panting. She had been searching the north and east side of the shopping district for over an hour now with no such luck.  
>A moment later, Mugi arrived.<p>

"And?"

"Sorry, Ricchan."

Mugi searched the west and south side of the shopping district, also where the food stands and cake shops are. None of the shop owners had seen Yui for a while.

"Damn it. Well, she isn't in any ally or back street, either. Should we call Nodoka now?"

Mio and Mugi looked at each other then simultaneously nodded.

"… Hello, Nodoka? Sorry, we searched the district, but we couldn't find her or any clues that might lead to her…"

* * *

><p>"I see… Well, I'll tell them then." Nodoka sighed as she pocketed her phone. Another tear threatened to escape her eye as she called Ui and Jun over. Nodoka wasn't one to be pessimistic, but she knew had to be realistic.<p>

"That was Ritsu. She said they can't find any clues to Yui's whereabouts. I'm sorry, Ui, but I fear this is-"

"Don't… D-don't say that… Please, Nodoka…" Ui's voice wavered and her knees felt weak. Jun held her shoulders just in time, or else she would've fallen onto the dirty grounds of the forest.

"Ui…" Jun looked up and wanted to ask Nodoka something when she saw a piece of paper stuck to one of the low branches of a tree.

"Nodoka-senpai, what's that?" pointing to the branch.

Nodoka walked over and inspected the piece of paper. Her eyes widened for a second and for the umpteenth time her eyes began to brim with tears.

"It's… It's a l-letter f-f-from Yui." With a shaky hand she gave the piece of paper to Jun who held it in a way so both her and Ui could read it.

_[Don't worry about me, Ui.  
>I'm just going to find Azusa and<br>then I'll be back with you.  
>I want a choco hotpot when<br>I get back, okay…_

_Yui]_

Ui began to tremble as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Her knees gave in and despite being held by Jun's firm arms, she fell to the ground. She couldn't contain her loud sobs any longer and both Nodoka and Jun didn't know what to do.  
>Jun just hugged her tightly while Ui tried to muffle her sobs with Jun's coat.<p>

"Let's get her home, Nodoka-senpai…"

Nodoka silently gave a short nod and helped Ui up. It hurt to see the girl, who is usually so composed, like a wreck. If only Yui could see what she's doing to her sister, how she's hurting her.  
>Ui looked in the direction of where the note was.<p>

"Onee-chan, why are you doing this? Please… come back home to me!"

* * *

><p><em>I'm sorry, Ui… I just have to find Azusa… Just… have to…<em>

Yui was hiding in a large bush just ten feet away from where Nodoka was standing. Her heart ached, but she wasn't sure as to whether it was from missing Azusa or breaking her sister's heart.  
>She saw Jun Leading Ui into opposite direction, toward her house and then heard a sigh; it belonged to Nodoka.<br>Nodoka said it more to herself, but Yui heard it perfectly clear.

"Where are you, Yui? Don't you see what you're doing to Ui…? Please just come home quickly-" Nodoka's strong and stern voice was gone and she now sounded sad, defeated and above all she sounded just as afraid as she felt.

Yui sat there, her mind racing.

_I.. I…_

_["Don't you see what you're doing to Ui?"]_

Yui wanted so bad to just get up and run over to Ui and tell her everything would be alright. Of course she knew she couldn't do that. She had made a promise to Azusa and she wasn't going to break it.

"Please, just come back to me… to us, Yui…" and Nodoka slowly walked away.

_Nodoka…-chan…_

Yui watched as Nodoka's figure disappeared into the night. Seeing her friends like that, she was now determined to find Azusa faster.

_Don't worry, Ui… Nodoka-chan. Once I find Azusa, I'll come back and we can be together again…_

Yui looked back once more to see the faint light of Nodoka's flashlight.

_Hang on, Azusa… I'm coming…_

Yui began running in the opposite direction of Nodoka, going deeper into the forest, starting her search for her beloved Azunyan.

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>**Well, here it was. The fourth chapter. I'm not so pleased with this chapter, even though it took me four hours to come up with a storyline. Just goes to show you, Musician74 can not work with a story line...  
>Anyway, I still hope you enjoyed this little piece... Review if you like... I'm not forcing, but you will make me very very happy... ^^"<br>See you in the next chapter!

Musician74


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